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‘Oh! Harry is it? And I thought you were
my
girl!’

‘Eubie? What in God’s name are you doing? Don’t you have enough trouble as it is?’

‘Me? Trouble?’ He laughed as he came round to the side of the chair. He was a big man, but not in the shape and form that Harry was. Eubie was built square from neck to calves, as if someone had started a statue in granite and forgotten to finish it off. ‘Amanda and me have no trouble, Katherine. She’s mad at me, but she’ll get over it. And you’re still my girl.’

‘You’ve got to be crazy, Eubie, if you think that I would want anything to do with you. Why is it that you conveniently forgot to tell me you were married? Bad memory?’

‘Well, you know how it is. When a fella gets a long way from home, he—•’

‘I don’t know how it is, and I don’t intend to find out. You don’t deserve a fine woman like Amanda! Somebody ought to fill your south end with buckshot!’

‘Now, Katie, that’s no way to talk to a close friend!’ He moved around in front of her chair now, bending over so his face was a matter of inches from hers.

‘What in the name of all that’s holy do you think you’re doing!’ she shouted at him. ‘You don’t seem to have enough brains to come in out of the rain. And get your hands off me!’ Her voice had risen to a shrill shriek as one of his hands pinned her in the chair, while the other stroked her breast.

‘One more chance, Eubie,’ she threatened him, ‘and I’m going to scream the house down. Get your—’ His hand shifted from her breast and clamped across her lips and nose, half-smothering her in the effort. She struggled against his hold, kicking out against his shin with her good foot. He grunted as the sharp point of her shoe bounced off his leg. His hand on her mouth shifted slightly, just enough for her to draw her lips back. With all the power she possessed she bit down on his hand. She could feel the salty taste of blood as he snatched his hand away, howling like a dog.

‘You bit me, you damned bitch,’ he snarled. He held up his hand in front of her, as if offering evidence. She grabbed at it and bit again.

‘Damn! Damn you! Damn!’ It seemed to be all he could say. ‘And that’s my throwing hand, you bitch. I’m gonna wring your little neck and hang you out to dry!’

Up to that moment she had been acting on reflexes, with her eyes half closed. Now she truly opened them and looked. He was standing squarely in front of her, between her chair and the lip of the pool. There was a sullen anger showing on his usually vacuous face. He started to move towards her, both hands outstretched in a clutching grip, aiming for her throat. My God! She told herself. He’s really going to do it. He really means to wring my neck! Her hand fumbled for the throttle of her chair, madly trying to back the chair away from his slow, stalking approach. But the chair had only one slow speed backwards, and she knew it would not be enough. Without a second thought, she decided to attack. She jammed the throttle full forward. The big rear wheels whined for a second, then sent the chair hurtling directly at him.

His reflexes were slow. Instead of ducking to one side, he took two steps backwards, teetering on the edge of the pool. By now Katie’s fear had turned to anger! Why should she be afraid of this hill-country cracker? Why should he get all the good bits? He was barely holding his balance at the end of the pool, where the deepest water was located. She smiled to herself, and edged the throttle forward again.

The projecting foot rest of the chair caught him a smashing blow just above his ankles. He yelled once, swayed, and then toppled backwards into the water. Katie was unable to sit up straight, so overcome was she in hysterical laughter. So much did she lose control, that she hardly noticed that her chair was still rolling forward. It was not until it tilted forward steeply that she managed to look down and see the green water staring back at her. She barely had time for one deep breath before she and the chair joined Eubie in the swimming pool.

In ordinary circumstances, an unexpected ducking in the pool, even with a cast on her foot, would hardly have affected Katie at all. She relaxed, kept her eyes open, and watched the slow motion development. She and the chair were slowly settling to the bottom. The water was warm, heated by the solar panels. She kept her cool.

When finally one foot touched bottom, she started to push off on the way back up, only to find that her encasted foot was stuck—jammed into the corner of the folding foot rest. She jerked at the foot, trying to dislodge it. A spasm of pain reminded her that the foot inside the cast was still sore. A little more worried now, she bent awkwardly, to examine the problem. Somehow the light aluminium foot rest had become bent, her foot was trapped behind it, and the full weight of the motorised chair was holding her down.

Her breath was running short! Now’s the time, she told herself hysterically. Panic! She grabbed the foot rest with both hands, but only succeeded in dragging the chair down on top of herself. She scrabbled at the metal, no longer cool and collected, no longer proud. She looked desperately around her underwater world. Eubie had disappeared. Air was bubbling from her mouth in tiny spurts. A band of pain stretched across her chest. She fought against the easy surrender. All you have to do is breath in, she told herself. Breath in and drown. But she fought the urge.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement. A body plunged through the green roof above her, sending a trail of air bubbles back up in its wake. Strong hands seized the metal foot rest, wrenching it completely free from the chair. And then the same strong hands encompassed her waist and urged her up, to where the blessed air awaited. Katie managed to hold on to her senses until that first sweet gulp of air whistled down into her lungs, and then she surrendered to the darkness.

‘But she’s breathing—you don’t have to give her the kiss of life when she’s already breathing,’ Amanda was saying, just as Katie wandered back through the fog, back to life. She just managed to crack one eye open.

‘I know I don’t,’ Harry said. His head leaned over her, shutting out the light. She could read the deep lines of concern on his mobile face. His lips touched hers, lightly, comfortingly.

‘Don’t,’ she said weakly, making a pro-forma complaint which she hoped he would ignore. He did.

‘Yes, sure,’ he laughed in her ear. ‘One more time, just for luck.’ And those tantalisingly comfortable lips zoomed in on hers again, locked on for a second, and then withdrew.

‘You don’t give artificial respiration to girls who faint,’ Mary contributed. ‘Seems to me you’re funnin’ again, Mr King. Leave the girl alone!’

‘Spoilsports!’ he announced, in a very aggrieved voice. But when she opened both eyes he had that inane grin splattered across his face again. She took two deep breaths, and struggled to sit up.

‘Eubie?’ she asked hesitantly.

‘Eubie what?’ Amanda said sharply. ‘Was he mixed up in this?’

‘He—he fell in the water.’

‘He fell in the water?’ Harry interjected. ‘There’s a better word for it than that, Katie. I saw it from the kitchen window. What was he up to this time? Groping?’

‘That’s enough,’ Aunt Grace intervened. ‘The girl’s had a shock.’ Harry took one quick look at Katie, then stooped and picked her up as casually as if she were a featherweight. She felt suddenly exhausted. She slipped her arms around his neck and nestled her head against his shoulder. The procession trailed after them through the kitchen and into Katie’s makeshift bedroom.

‘I’ll just get these wet clothes off you,’ he muttered, and started to work at the buttons of her blouse.

‘Harry King!’ His hands fumbled to a stop, as Aunt Grace bustled into the room. ‘Up to your old tricks? Out of here! Git!’

He hesitated, tom between choices, but finally shrugged and ambled out the door. ‘Now then,’ his aunt crooned, ‘out of these wet things, a good brisk drying with a warm towel, and something to drink.’

‘I’m all right,’ Katie protested. ‘The only thing that trouble me is how angry I got. Boy, I haven’t lost my temper that wildly since Caesar was a pup! How is Eubie?’

‘That one!’ Aunt Grace’s noise crinkled in disdain. ‘He got a good ducking, that’s for sure. But that’s only half of what he’s got coming to him. Amanda led him upstairs by the nose! And Harry—well! Did you see that look in Harry’s eyes when he went out? Eubie Fairfield had better be hard to find, believe you me.’

As she talked her fingers were busy stripping Katie to the skin, and now she busied herself with a huge bath towel, drying her, and restoring her circulation at the same time. ‘Sit up now,’ she commanded, ‘and let me do your back.’ The door opened, and Eloise came in, carrying a tray, and fresh towels.

‘Katie?’ the blonde woman said as she came up to the bed. ‘I’ve brought you some sassafras tea. It’s good and hot!’ Katie looked up at her through the fringe of her disordered curls. There was something different about Eloise. The hard shell had cracked. She looks real instead of artificial! Katie accepted the tea-cup and sipped gratefully at the hot liquid. Eloise came around to the other side of the bed, wrapped Katie’s hair in one of the fresh towels, and began a gentle drying motion. The treatment was soothing, calming. Aunt Grace had finished her part of the work, and stepped back to admire.

‘You really are a lovely girl,’ she commented. ‘Now, let me see—I know. Harry’s robe! I’ll be back in a minute.’ She walked out the door. Eloise continued her ministrations, then picked up another towel and wrapped Katie’s hair up in a turban.

‘It’s dry enough to stop dripping,’ she commented. ‘I’ll bring you a blow-drier in a minute.’

‘Thanks, Eloise,’ Katie said softly. ‘If I were in your position I would have torn the hair out by the roots, you know. What’s happened?’

‘The inevitable,’ the older woman sighed. ‘You really are a nice kid, Katie. I’ve held out as long as I could, but it’s too late to change now.’ She sat down in the chair next to the bed and folded her hands. Why, this is the first time I’ve ever seen her relax, Katie told herself. Always before she has appeared to be wound up like a too-tight clock spring, ready to snap at any moment. And now she is leaning back against the chair, at rest. ‘Have you ever been scared, Katie?’

‘Who hasn’t! What brought that on?’

‘No, I mean really scared. Really.’

Katie squirmed round in the bed to look at her visitor. The woman was looking up at the ceiling, twisting her hands together, biting her lip. There was a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

‘Yes I have, once or twice,’ Katie replied. ‘And you?’

‘I—I’m scared all the time. That’s my problem. Everything scares me. I’m scared of meeting people, and not meeting people. I’m scared of being as poor as we were when I was young. I’m scared of thunder. I’m scared of most anything, I guess. That’s why I’ve always worn a hard-case exterior.’

‘Well, you could have fooled me, Eloise. You don’t look it.’

‘No, I’ve learned over a lot of years to hide everything, even from myself. I work in a tough business, and I’m scared to death of it too. But I have to eat, so I hide my feelings, and keep at it. Lord, I’m tired of hiding. You know the only safe place for a scared woman?’

‘No, what?’

‘Being married, Katie. That’s the only real refuge. Don’t keep fighting for something you can’t have. Find a man who will take care of you, and marry him. That’s the only way.’

‘Even if you don’t love him?’

‘You could learn to love. Or at least I could. I’m sorry I’ve been such a pain to you, Katie. You’re really a good kid. I wanted Harry. We’ve had some dreadful fights but I still thought I could hold him to his promise. Until I saw him come out of that swimming pool with you in his arms. That’s when I knew it was all over. The look in his eyes as he watched you. Well, I’m not too clever, but I don’t have to be hit with a meat axe. I’ve already called Giles, in Atlanta. If I’m lucky, he’ll never know he was second-best. I’ll go rustle up that hairdrier. Good luck to you, Katie.’ Eloise got up from the chair and walked out of the room without looking back. Katie sat up and hugged her knees against her breasts.

Now what in the world was that all about, she asked herself. And who is Giles? I think I must have been right the first day I tumbled into this crowd. None of them have all their marbles!

They ate in the kitchen that night. It was a subdued group that gathered around the table to share beef stew, rampant with fresh vegetables, and deep-dish apple pie. The smell of fresh-baked bread filled the whole house.

‘Where’s Amanda?’ Katie asked through a mouthful of hot bread.

‘Gone,’ Mary said. ‘Packed up, bag and baggage, and drove off while you was changin’ clothes.’

‘Why, Harry?’ Katie asked.

‘They’ve gone to Chattanooga,’ he said. ‘They have a home there. Amanda has decided to give it one more try. She said to give you her apologies and her love.

‘And Eubie?’

‘He didn’t have anything to say.’

‘Well, of course he didn’t,’ Aunt Grace interrupted. ‘How could he? That was a terrible thing that you did, Harry. He was a guest in the house. You shouldn’t have hit him so hard. He’ll lose all those front teeth. You wait and see!’

‘I don’t intend to see,’ Harry snarled. ‘If I ever see him again he’ll lose the rest of them. If it wasn’t for the fact that my sister married—well, I would have killed the bastard!’

‘But it wasn’t all that bad,’ Katie interjected. ‘I could have handled the whole affair. You needn’t have made a Federal case out of it. After all, I pushed
him
into the pool, not the other way around!’

‘I didn’t hit him because he pushed you into the pool,’ he snarled at her. ‘I hit him because after you fell in he just sat on the side of the pool and didn’t move a muscle to help. Do you realise that in another two minutes you could have been—Damn you, Katie Russel, why did you ever come into my life! You and your damn schemes!’ He scraped back his chair, threw his napkin on to the table, and stormed out the door.

‘Well!’ Mary commented.

‘Well indeed.’ Aunt Grace sounded highly pleased about the whole affair. ‘Didn’t I tell you, Katie?’